


Abdication - Pitch

by Bakufan15



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, High Fantasy, just testing an idea, just the prologue, looking for feedback, pitch - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25299610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakufan15/pseuds/Bakufan15
Summary: Then, as the final wisps of energy dissolved into thin air, the grim reality of the situation took hold and Iisesh looked at Hana - a girl barely older than three years old - and collapsed to the ground, holding her to his chest as he cried for her sake..
Comments: 10
Kudos: 13





	Abdication - Pitch

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, if you're seeing this because you follow my profile, welcome to the original work that I'm working on. I will not be updating this story with further chapters, as this is just a pitch and a feeler to get some opinions on a prologue. 
> 
> For reference, this is a prologue, and most fantasy prologues are meant to leave you with questions. 
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy this short prologue

**Prologue: Abdication**

* * *

Iisesh set the broom aside for a moment, the dull, throbbing pain in his lower back becoming too much to bear. With a huff, he fell onto one of the chairs that lined the room, straightening his spine against the backrest as he took a deep breath, his lungs taking in stale air. Absentmindedly, he observed his work, thankful that he was nearly done sweeping.

The temple itself was relatively small - barely twenty paces wide and thirty paces deep despite being one of the province’s three major “cathedrals”. The Eliyan Church didn’t have nearly as strong of a presence in the north as it did in the south, so it was natural that the temples got less funding. The low populations in the northern provinces never particularly lent themselves to much church activity - where cathedrals in the south were big enough to get lost in, those here were barely bigger than a normal family’s home.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Iisesh muttered to himself, leaning back in his chair. “Keeping this place clean is hard enough as is.” 

With a groan, Iisesh relaxed his neck and stared at the ceiling above, following the rafters with his eyes as he traced the grid pattern. After that got boring, he took to side-eyeing the broom while rubbing at his bad shoulder. 

“Fine,” he sighed, giving in to his desire to finish working and head to bed as he set back to work sweeping the rest of the floor.

Or, at least he would have, if not for the fact that the temple’s front double-doors flew open with a resounding _bang!_

“By Creation’s name!” he yelped, dropping the broom in shock. Quickly, he turned his attention to the building’s entrance, and Iisesh saw that the person at his front door was not a thief like he’d first suspected, but rather one of the local villagers. “There’s a knocker on the door for a reason!”

The villager, a man Iisesh recognized as the local baker, held up a single finger - a simple signal that he needed a moment. The man was panting, leaning up against the doorframe as he heaved for air. It was obvious he’d run across town in a panic - something was wrong, and the prospect of finishing his sweeping job suddenly became even less appealing.

“What’s the matter?” 

“It’s - “ the man started, but quickly stopped when a heavy cough wracked his body.

“How far did you run, lad?” Iisesh furrowed his brow. “You’re in no shape to speak right now, I’ll go get you something to drink.”

He tried to turn away and retreat into the temple, but only got about ninety degrees before a firm, _desperate_ hand gripped onto his forearm.

“Just...come. Please.”

Iisesh only needed to see the man’s face for a split second to recognize the look of pure fear in his eyes. There would be no use in trying to reason with him.

“Alright, lead the way.”

It took about a quarter of an hour of brisk walking to make it to the bakery. Winter was nearly over, but spring hadn’t quite come yet, so the residual snow slowed their pace somewhat. Iisesh had also left his coat back at the church, so every time the wind picked up, he felt the icy breeze nip at his skin. At some point during the trek, the baker found it within him to begin speaking, but the fact that it was all non-coherent muttering wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.

“Come in and up the stairs,” the baker instructed. Iisesh obeyed, following the man into the building and past the front counter, then all the way past the brick raising oven and to the staircase. The second floor of the building was the family’s actual living space - mostly just a hallway with doors leading to bedrooms on each side. He continued to follow the man until he stopped in the kitchen right at the end of the hall where his wife stood, crying into her hands.

“What’s the problem?” Iisesh said as delicately as he could manage.

“It’s Hana,” the woman responded as she attempted to wipe the tears away from her eyes, only for them to be replaced a moment later. “She’s...she’s -” another sob interrupted her. “I’m so sorry…”

 _Hana is their daughter, if I remember correctly._ Iisesh thought. “What’s going on?” He turned his attention to the husband. “She’s not injured is she?”

The baker let out a shaky breath but slowly shook his head. “I think it’ll be easier if you just see,” he said softly, gesturing to the door on the other side of the kitchen. “She’s in there.”

Iisesh raised an eyebrow, but the man had already turned away to comfort his wife.

 _Here goes nothing,_ he thought, pushing through the door into the dining room. The hinge squeaked quietly as the door swung open.

Iisesh heard Hana before he saw her.

“Do you want any more tea, mister squarey?”

“Hana?” Iisesh prodded, making sure his presence was known as to not scare the child.

“Oh, look everyone! It’s Cleric Iisesh! Say hello!”

It was normal for children to have imaginary friends. Not every child did, but having one was not normally a cause for concern - children had wild imaginations, afterall, something that changed quickly with age. That was the thing with imaginary friends - they can be as unrealistic or as wild as the bounds of a child’s imagination, because they are just that - imaginary, not real.

Iisesh had to keep himself from turning around and storming out of the entire building as Hana, the sweet, little three year old waved from the other side of the dining table alongside two other figures - one an unnatural, unnerving, two-dimensional being made exclusively of pastel-pink circles, and the other almost identical, but made out of pastel-green squares instead.

They looked like creatures straight from a mad man’s nightmare.

“This is mister circley and mister squarey!” Hana chirped. “They’re my friends and came over to have tea with me!”

“Is - is that so?” Iisesh said slowly, trying very carefully to keep his voice from breaking. He also did not take a single step away from the door, frozen in place by a combination of overwhelming fear and anxiety. The two beings in front of him would definitely fit into the general definition of a childhood imaginary friend, but seeing real, physical manifestations of them was nothing short of nightmare fuel. 

That wasn’t all, either. As the two-dimensional horrors stared at Iisesh with unblinking eyes, flamboyantly designed tea cups floated around the table, refilling every time either one of the monsters or Hana herself drank from the cup.

“Are you going to have tea with me?” Hana prodded, gesturing around her. “Mama said I could invite whoever I want!”

Iisesh gulped, only just now noticing how the circles and squares on each of the creature’s bodies pulsated in a way, expanding and then shrinking, almost as if they were breathing. “Hana...why don’t we stop tea time for now?”

 _By Creation, what the hell are those things?_

“Aww…” Hana pouted. “Do I have to?”

“I...think that’s best for now,” Iisesh breathed. “Why don’t you say goodbye to...mister circley and mister squarey?”

Hana looked between each of her ‘friends’, completely unperturbed by their presence, then sighed.

“Alright,” she said, still pouting. With a smile towards each of the horrific monsters sitting at the dinner table (thank Creation they’d stopped staring at him), she nodded. “Goodbye! I’ll see you later!”

Then, as Hana climbed out of the chair way too large for her, the two-dimensional beings and floating teacups dissipated into a slightly transparent, bright white smoke.

As soon as Iisesh saw that, he finally understood what was going on. He’d been briefed and trained on Embers upon reaching fourth ascension in the Eliyan Church. Everyone knew Embers existed, but for most, it was more superstition and folklore than fact - even after being explicitly told how to spot the use of an Ember, Iisesh thought he’d never actually encounter one.   
Yet, here he was, face-to-face with a three year old bearing a little sliver of God.

 _Creation’s energy,_ Iisesh thought in awe, watching the smoke dissipate into the air. _I’m in the presence of divinity._ Even as he watched Creation’s precious energy disappear, wasted and never to be recovered, he couldn’t help but see some level of beauty in it. Despite the fact that the church saw the use of an Ember as a crime on par with treason, Iisesh couldn’t help but be stunned silent as he took in the warm, slightly acrid scent.

Then, as the final wisps of energy dissolved into thin air, the grim reality of the situation took hold and Iisesh looked at Hana - a girl barely older than three years old - and collapsed to the ground, holding her to his chest as he cried for her sake..

**Author's Note:**

> The planning document for this story is 15 pages long. This just scrapes the surface.
> 
> Any feedback through comments would be greatly appreciated


End file.
